Low profile stackable conveyor oven
AssigneeMiddleby Marshall Inc.
InventorsAdrian A. Bruno, Richard J. Casanzio, Thomas Diwisch, Hector Gonzalez, Bacigalupe Carlos, John R. Norris, Sushil Eapen, Loren Veltrop
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A conveyor oven module has a very low profile so that more oven modules may be stacked to give a greater baking capacity in the same "foot print" without the top conveyor being higher than the five and a half feet from the floor, which is the generally accepted maximum height for people to reach. Almost all serviceable parts are in the front of the oven. The oven modules are self-contained so that an oven module may be serviced while the remainder of the oven modules in the stack continue to operate.
Claims39
A low profile oven module which may be assembled to form a plurality of stackable modular ovens, said oven module comprising housing means containing a heated tunnel with a conveyor extending therethrough and having upper and lower hot air delivery fingers positioned above and below said conveyor, means including a plenum for delivering a forced draft of hot air into and out of said fingers, means for returning air issuing from said fingers back to said plenum, burner means mounted in the front of said oven and extending across the width of and toward the back of said oven, burner blower means mounted in the front of said oven and separate from said burner, and duct means extending between said burner blower and said burner for delivering forced air to said burner.
A low profile modular conveyor oven for incorporation into a larger oven assembled from a plurality of said modular ovens, said modular oven comprising an insulated housing having a heated tunnel therein, a conveyor extending through said tunnel for transporting product through said oven, a front access panel on said oven, a channel behind said front access panel, said access panel being mounted to move between opened and closed positions for concealing and protecting or exposing and giving access to said channel, at least one fan mounted to drive a draft of cooling air into said channel, a burner mounted with a cool end in said channel and a hot end at least partially under said tunnel, and blower means separate from said burner for driving said air in said channel into the cool end of said burner, thereby partially exhausting said draft of cooling air from said channel.
An elongated modular conveyor oven comprising an elongated conveyor in a heated compartment, a plurality of air distribution parts in a back of said oven for establishing a selectable heat profile along the length of said conveyor, means for mounting all remaining serviceable parts in a front of said oven, means for joining said parts by conduits which have lengths selected to adjust the length of said oven without requiring a redesign thereof in order to make ovens of different lengths, and means for concealing and protecting said remaining serviceable parts within a cooled chamber at the front of said oven.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.